THE WORLD'S PROBLEM

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 162, 5 April 1938, Page 2

THE WORLD'S PROBLEM

The Menace Of Germany The fundamental problem of th( world to-day was still Germany, sate Lord Lothian recently in the House ot Lords. The reason was that at nd time since 1919 had the rest of the world been willing to cede reasonable justice or reasonable understanding with -Germany. It was still widely believed that Germany was largely responsible for the last war. A group of German and French historians had studied various documents on the matter, and had Issued a statement expressing, agreement that the documents did not; warrant the view that a deliberate desire for European war could be attributed to any Government or people in 1914. IVhat followed Versailles, was more serious than what was done at Versailles itself. We had now convinced Germany by long experience that the only way of altering treaties was t« have the power to compel their alteration. We and our associates must! share a considerable measure of responsibility for the situation which now confronted us. It was because Germany was now totalitarian, because we were afraid of her, because she was a formidable menace, that "we were unable or felt it difficult to give her those things which we would concede to a democratic Germany. The root of the trouble, the weight hanging over the world, was that our own follies in the past were coming home to roost.

He was not an isolationist; it was not passible to be one. Once the machine of war began to move in the world it was not possible for anybody long to avoid being dragged into it. He was against the League of Nations Union interpretation of the obligations of the Covenant.

There was only oue solution. We hud to combine collective justice with collective security. We had to concede to those nations who were entitled to remedies —and oue was Germany—alterations in the status quo aud incur obligations with other like-minded nations to resist changes which went: beyond wjiat impartial justice regarded as being fair. He was being driven to the conclusion that unless the democracies were willing to face the obligations of war we should be driven inexorably to retreat in the face of the kind of menace that, we had seen applied to Austria in the last few days